By Erika Grumet “That’s why her hair is so big. Because it’s full of secrets.” -Damian, Mean GIrls “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) -Walt Whitman, Song of Myself A hundred and fifty-ish years apart, and we queers are still talking about secrets and contradictions and theContinue reading “Erika’s Big Think #2: The Orange on the Seder Plate”
Category Archives: Pretty Words about Ugly Things
Big Cat, Little Cat
. . . Two Cats, one large and orange, one small and grey, both striped. Big Cat looks down at Little Cat with a placid countenance; Little Cat looks off into the distance, eyes pinched with unresolved anger. Big Cat says: “Little Cat, I’m reading my star chart. What’s your sign so I can readContinue reading “Big Cat, Little Cat”
Fine. More “Big Cat, Little Cat”
. . . On the left, a large, orange cat with an apparently benevolent expression takes up almost half of the frame. On the right, a small grey with a squinty, grumpy look takes up less than a quarter. Big Cat appears to be looking down at Little Cat with love. Big cat says toContinue reading “Fine. More “Big Cat, Little Cat””
New Weekly(ish) Piece
Happy Pride from Big Cat, Little Cat . . . For the visually impaired: Two cats, orange and grey. The orange cat takes up almost all of the left half of the frame, and is looking downward at the grey cat with what appears to be a benevolent facial expression. The grey cat is smaller,Continue reading “New Weekly(ish) Piece”
Your Love is better than Ice Cream
By Erika Grumet (A note about the term “bisexuality”: some people find the term ‘bisexuality’ restrictive or uncomfortable because of its focus on the idea of “binary” or an either/or dichotomy. My personal interpretation, the way I use it, describes the idea of “a gender identity similar to mine” and “a gender identity unlike mine”Continue reading “Your Love is better than Ice Cream”
We Dance to the Rhythm of 49 Heartbeats: The Pulse Massacre 5 Years Later
By Erika Grumet In December of 2012, the day after my youngest child turned 3, on what had begun as a typical Friday (with a little extra crankiness because there had been an extended evening of celebrations the night before) the Facebook News Network broke a story about a shooting at an elementary school inContinue reading “We Dance to the Rhythm of 49 Heartbeats: The Pulse Massacre 5 Years Later”
Picture of Erika’s (Most Camera-Loving) Cat
For anyone who has been reading Erika’s gorgeous, soul-searching articles of late and wondering: where does she find the balance between inner fire and inner calm that would allow her to write like that, we trust this picture raises far more questions than it will ever answer.
#ActLoveGive-A Request from Erika
by Erika Grumet This weekend will mark the fifth anniversary of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, an unimaginable and heartbreaking tragedy targeting our LGBTQ+ family, and in particular BIPOC members of our LGBTQ+ family. We’ll bring you a longer piece about that over the weekend, but I have a request this week,Continue reading “#ActLoveGive-A Request from Erika”
The AIDS Epidemic: Fortieth Anniversary: A Personal History
By Erika Grumet Forty years ago today, the first reports of the “pneumonia” that we would eventually know was AIDS broke. As the most senior member of the Ivory Tower Boiler Room team, and the one with the most experience in HIV and AIDS related topics, (and the one who brought it up during planningContinue reading “The AIDS Epidemic: Fortieth Anniversary: A Personal History”
June Preview-Welcome to Pride Month 2021: The Ivory Tower Boiler Room Celebrates, Reflects, and Memorializes
Book spines with different LGBTQ* Pride Flags This month is a big deal for us. We are keeping to the established pattern–a big think every Monday, a podcast every Saturday, and shorter content in between. But leading up to this, the 52nd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, we will be using those established patterns toContinue reading “June Preview-Welcome to Pride Month 2021: The Ivory Tower Boiler Room Celebrates, Reflects, and Memorializes”